This Week in the News…

Posted: February 22, 2002 at 1:00 am, Last Updated: November 30, -0001 at 12:00 am

Following are highlights of national news coverage George Mason received during the past week:

Friday, Feb. 15, Associated Press Newswires

Ex-Enron Workers Get Bankruptcy Voice; Shareholders to Courts

“‘It substantially increases their bargaining power and influence in drafting the reorganization plan,’ said Todd Zywicki, a bankruptcy law professor at George Mason University. ‘They can vent their outrage and influence what happens in a way that regular shareholders can’t.'”

Saturday, Feb. 16, Star-Ledger (Newark, N.J.)

Feds Taking Over Airport Security

“‘It had to be done,’ said George Donohue, a professor of public policy at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., and a former Federal Aviation Administration official. ‘It was always cheaper for the airlines to buy insurance than to pay for a (high-tech) security force.’… Donohue, the George Mason professor and former FAA official, said a major benefit of the TSA takeover will be increased standardization of screening techniques. He said it is ludicrous, for example, that airport security personnel currently confiscate small knives but allow sharp pencils, ‘which are probably just as dangerous. They kind of are doing things randomly,’ he added.”

“Republicans on the committee requested a review of the cross-burning affair from George Mason University law professor Michael Krauss. Krauss, in a Feb. 11 letter to Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), ranking Republican on the committee, concluded that Pickering’s judicial behavior was proper and he ‘deserves praise of his efforts.’ Krauss wrote that no rational basis had been established for the disparate sentencing among the three accused males.”

Tuesday, Feb. 19, Associated Press Newswires

House Panel Kills Bill to Outlaw Below-Cost Gasoline Sales

“Donald J. Boudreaux, chairman of the economics department at George Mason University, said the threat of the chains building a monopoly is ‘a phantom.’ Most owners of small stations are franchisees of major oil companies that are well equipped to compete with Sheetz and Wawa, he said.”

Thursday, Feb. 21, Los Angeles Times

FCC to Rethink Media Rules Regulation

“‘The FCC has a peculiarly sensitive political role because they are dealing with what can go out over the airwaves,’ said Ernest Gellhorn, a professor at George Mason University Law School in Fairfax, Va. ‘We are talking about an agency that affects entertainment, news, and telecommunications–both wired and wireless. You cannot find more sensitive and important issues in American life.'”